Affirmative Action

Associated Press

News about Affirmative Action, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jan. 21, 2015

Hiring of Todd Bowles as new head coach of New York Jets is latest achievement of rule requiring teams to interview at least one minority candidate when looking to fill top coaching spot; there are currently six NFL head coaches who have minority backgrounds, out of 32 teams, and some analysts worry there is still wide disparity between ratio of black players to black coaches. MORE

Nov. 18, 2014

Harvard University and University of North Carolina are being sued by legal advocacy group Project on Fair Representation, which alleges that affirmative action policies are limiting admissions of white and Asian-American students and should be banned at colleges. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

Editorial supports federal appeals court decision upholding affirmative action admissions at University of Texas in face of lawsuit brought by white student Abigail Fisher after she was denied admission; holds that university has made strong effort to reach workable solution to diversity effort, and has largely succeeded in doing so. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

Three-judge panel of United States Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit upholds University of Texas at Austin’s consideration of race as one of many factors in admissions; case was brought by Abigail Fisher, white student who was not in the top 10 percent of her high school class and was denied admission to the university for the fall of 2008. MORE

Jun. 17, 2014

The Upshot column asserts that affirmative action as most people know it is probably doomed; new books Place, Not Race and The Future of Affirmative Action lay out detailed visions of an affirmative action in higher education that would combine racial and economic diversity, in contrast to current version, which has done little to promote economic diversity. MORE

Apr. 23, 2014

Supreme Court upholds Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to the state's public universities; 6-2 ruling effectively endorses similar measures in seven other states, and reveals deep divisions over what role the judiciary should play in protecting racial and ethnic minorities. MORE

Apr. 23, 2014

Leaders in higher education, upset by Supreme Court decision upholding Michigan’s ban on race-based preferences in college admissions, say ruling will nudge them further along the path of finding alternative means to promote diversity in their student bodies; say it appears that affirmative action has a limited future and admissions criteria is moving to other factors such as income. MORE

Apr. 23, 2014

Editorial criticizes Supreme Court decision to allow Michigan voters to ban race-conscious admissions policies in higher education; praises Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent, which rightly took aim at conservative members of the court who wrote off decades-old precedent meant to address lingering effects of racial discrimination. MORE

Apr. 8, 2014

Adam Liptak Sidebar column highlights lawyer Edward Blum, who spearheaded the 2013 affirmative action challenge Fisher v University of Texas that landed in Supreme Court; notes that Blum has started a series of websites seeking plaintiffs for further suits against universities that he says have resisted Supreme Court's decision about limiting use of race in college admissions. MORE

Nov. 14, 2013

Lawyers for Abigail Fisher, white college applicant who sued University of Texas at Austin, argue in federal appeals court that school's affirmative-action admissions program is unnecessary because campus has achieved 'critical mass' of minority students. MORE

Oct. 16, 2013

Oct. 14, 2013

Editorial urges Supreme Court, in case Schuette v Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, to uphold lower court's decision and strike down 2006 amendment to Michigan's state constitution that bans any consideration of race or sex in public education; holds case in another reminder of the threat to minority rights posed by ballot initiatives. MORE

Jun. 25, 2013

Supreme Court, in 7-1 decision, avoids giving direct answer about constitutionality of affirmative-action admissions programs at public colleges and universities; orders appeals court to reconsider University of Texas case under demanding standard that appears to jeopardize program; ruling will likely set off wave of challenges to race-conscious admissions policies nationwide. MORE

Jun. 25, 2013

Both sides claim victory after Supreme Court ruling sends case regarding affirmative-action admissions at University of Texas back to lower courts for additional review. MORE

Jun. 25, 2013

Editorial praises Supreme Court's 7 to 1 ruling on University of Texas at Austin's use of race as a factor in admissions for affirming major precedents going back 35 years; says by sending case back to appeals court for review and calling for closer scrutiny of university's policy, court has upheld race-conscious admissions programs. MORE

Jun. 25, 2013

Op-Ed article by Columbia University president Lee C Bollinger charges that Supreme Court has continued its drift away from ideals it advanced in civil rights era by framing issue of race-conscious affirmative action very technically; fears ruling will empower lower courts and litigants to challenge benign considerations of race more easily than ever. MORE

Jun. 25, 2013

David Brooks Op-Ed column holds Supreme Court sent another small signal that era of explicitly race-based affirmative action is coming to an end by imposing stricter standards on how courts review affirmative action plans; observes that explicit, race-based affirmative action programs were not wrong for their time, but are now being replaced. MORE

Jun. 23, 2013

Supreme Court is poised to issue series of decisions that could transform marriage, education and voting as it considers cases involving same-sex marriage, affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act; four blockbuster cases before Court highlight tension between formal equality and more dynamic kind of equality that takes account of historical injustices. MORE

Jun. 14, 2013

Op-Ed article by Sherrilyn A Ifill, president and director-counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc, questions why liberals seem to be surrendering on affirmative action in college admissions; contends no matter what Supreme Court decides on issue, battle for racial diversity in higher education will not end, as legitimacy of democracy depends on ensuring that doors of opportunity are open to all. MORE

May. 31, 2013

Universities and colleges differ in how aggressively they recruit disadvantaged, low-income students, because of the high cost; polls show that while most Americans oppose racial or ethnic preferences in college admissions, they also think colleges should give extra help to the poor, as way to encourage diversity. MORE

May. 28, 2013

Supreme Court is poised to rule on whether University of Texas can continue to consider race as one of many factors in its admissions policy; it is a case that could have profound impact on race-based affirmative action programs, and it has reignited discussion of how much progress minorities, blacks in particular, have made in integrating into some of the most sought-after professions. MORE

May. 8, 2013

States that have outlawed affirmative action in college admissions are now giving potential applicants a leg up for overcoming disadvantages like poverty, language barriers, low-performing schools and troubled neighborhoods; California's public universities, and some of their counterparts around the country, have embedded themselves deeply in disadvantaged communities, working with schools, students and parents to identify promising teenagers and get more of them into college. MORE

Mar. 26, 2013

Supreme Court adds affirmative action case to its docket concerning voter initiative in Michigan that banned racial preferences in admissions to state's public universities. MORE

Mar. 17, 2013

Op-Ed article by lawyer and author Dan Slater questions whether affirmative action is detrimental to some minority students who get into top schools, citing the theory of 'mismatch,' which suggests that the policy can harm students by placing them at schools in which they fall below the median level of ability; contends if Supreme Court allows affirmative action to continue, it is worth taking closer, numbers-based look at consequences policy has for everyone. MORE

Mar. 10, 2013

David Leonhardt Capital Ideas column observes that while most prominent liberals, including members of the Obama administration, would like to see Supreme Court uphold current version of affirmative action, rump group of left-leaning legal scholars and education experts find themselves in unusual position of seeing upsides in its defeat. MORE

Nov. 21, 2012

Editorial applauds federal appeals court decision striking down Michigan's ban on race-conscious affirmative action policies; argues such bans violate United States Constitution's equal protection clause; warns issue is not settled, and Supreme Court may be persuaded to review it in light of conflicts in circuit courts. MORE

Nov. 16, 2012

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rules, 8 to 7, that Michigan's voter-approved 2006 ban on affirmative action was unconstitutional. MORE

Nov. 4, 2012

Asian-Americans, fasting-growing ethnic group in country, are tangled up in race-conscious college admissions in complicated ways; some see themselves as victims of affirmative action while others feel they benefit from it. MORE

Oct. 14, 2012

David Leonhardt Capital Ideas column observes that supporters of affirmative action find themselves in vulnerable position today, as evidenced by Supreme Court case dealing with university admissions that emphasize diversity over fairness; contends that affirmative action based on socioeconomic status, rather than race, would make such preferential treatment more viable. MORE

Oct. 11, 2012

Supreme Court debates the merits of diversity in higher education while hearing arguments in the Fisher v Texas affirmative action case; questions asked by the court's conservative members indicate that they are prepared to limit aspects of a 2003 decision allowing colleges to consider race as one of many factors in admissions decisions. MORE

Oct. 11, 2012

University officials across the country watch for clues as the Supreme Court hears arguments in a case challenging race-conscious admission to public colleges. MORE

Oct. 11, 2012

Editorial contends it would be a travesty for Supreme Court's conservative members to reverse or weaken longstanding legal precedent on issue of affirmative action. MORE

Oct. 9, 2012

Supreme Court is set to hear case of Abigail Fisher, student who claims she was denied admission to the University of Texas because she is white; case draws renewed attention to combustible issues of the constitutionality of racial preferences in admissions decisions by public universities. MORE

Oct. 8, 2012

India's caste-based affirmative action system for university admissions works to reward the powerful rather than uplift those in need; some rules forbid the wealthy from taking advantage of quotas, but those rules have not been implemented in many states and are widely ignored in others. MORE

Oct. 7, 2012

Sunday Dialogue on how the Supreme Court should rule on affirmative action. MORE

Oct. 7, 2012

Editorial expresses hope that Supreme Court does not bar all consideration of race in college admissions, as it will end variety of college programs that are crucial for education of college-bound Americans. MORE

Oct. 5, 2012

Op-Ed article by sociology Prof Thomas J Espenshade contends that race-based affirmative action in college admissions will likely be phased out, no matter what the Supreme Court decides about the issue; holds best way to fight racial inequality is to focus on early childhood, not college admissions. MORE

Oct. 4, 2012

Study by left-leaning policy group Century Foundation shows that giving college applicants preference based on socioeconomic factors, rather than race, is comparable to affirmative action in achieving racial diversity, and superior in helping people who are disadvantaged. MORE

Sep. 30, 2012

Editorial highlights some important cases that will be considered in upcoming Supreme Court term, including cases on affirmative action, unreasonable searches and the right of defendants to have effective counsel. MORE

Aug. 31, 2012

Brazil's government enacts one of the Western Hemisphere's most sweeping affirmative action laws, requiring public universities to reserve half of their admission spots for the largely poor students in the nation's public schools and to vastly increase the number of university students of African descent across the country. MORE

Apr. 3, 2012

Federal appeals court panel upholds California’s ban on using race, ethnicity and gender in admitting students to public colleges and universities. MORE

Apr. 2, 2012

Supreme Court, with its decision to take up racial preferences in admissions at public colleges, has touched off a national guessing game about how far it might move against affirmative action and how profoundly colleges might change as a result; history shows that when courts or new laws restrict affirmative action, colleges try to find other ways to increase minority admissions.. MORE

Mar. 8, 2012

Op-Ed article by Charles Murray, author of book Coming Apart, offers solutions to help overcome stark class divisions and the lack of inter-class relationships among young Americans; suggests ending unpaid internships, which disproportionately benefit the rich, and replacing ethnic affirmative action with system based on socioeconomic status. MORE

Feb. 22, 2012

Supreme Court's decision to hear a case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas thrusts affirmative action back into the public and political discourse after years in which it had mostly faded from view; both supporters and opponents of affirmative action say they see the decision, and the change in the court's makeup in since it last considered the issue, as a signal that the court's five more conservative members might be prepared to do away with racial preferences in higher education. MORE

Feb. 22, 2012

Supreme Court’s reconsideration of race as a factor in college admissions comes only nine years after a case that upheld the practice; admissions officials worry about maintaining diversity and are confounded that the issue is being reconsidered so soon. MORE

Jan. 22, 2012

Editorial asserts that the push by Republican politicians and conservative justices to eliminate efforts to ensure diversity on campuses is squarely at odds with America's racial history; warns that with the Supreme Court's makeup likely to change in the next four years, the presidential election could determine how long such crucial efforts will last. MORE

Jan. 18, 2012

Ward Connerly, black businessman who has been the face of the movement to end affirmative action, faces accusations from former ally Jennifer Gratz that he has mismanaged -- and exploited for his own benefit -- donations to that cause made by fellow conservatives. MORE

Dec. 3, 2011

Obama administration issues new guidelines that urge colleges and universities to get creative in improving racial diversity at their campuses, throwing out a Bush-era interpretation of Supreme Court rulings that limited affirmative action in admissions; suggests that in considering candidates, schools use criteria such as students' socioeconomic profiles, residential instability and hardships they have overcome, factors that are often proxies for race. MORE

Oct. 23, 2011

Sunday Dialogue on using economic status rather than race as a factor in college admissions. MORE

Oct. 16, 2011

News analysis; lawsuit filed by Abigail Fisher against the University of Texas, which alleges that she was denied admission because she is white, will be heard by the Supreme Court; case could provide an opportunity to consider what is meant by the concept of diversity, and may end affirmative action at public universities. MORE